While all topics courses count towards the Psychology major/minor, only some are approved for the Neuroscience major/minor.
See below for topics. Enrollment limited to 35 students.
Dist: SCI (unless otherwise listed in course description)
In 23F at 12, Margaret Funnell
The goal of this course is to explore the neuroscience of mental disorders. The ways in which we conceptualize and categorize psychopathology is changing rapidly, particularly as we gain insights into the neurological correlates of mental illness. We will review the characteristics of specific mental disorders and then delve into current neuroscientific research. We will focus in particular on the fundamental processes underlying psychopathology so that we can gain a better understanding of neurological relationships amongst seemingly disparate disorders. Although the class is focused on neuroscience, mental disorders cannot be fully understood without considering the experience of those suffering from these disorders. To better understand the experience of mental illness, we will watch a series of films and read a personal account of mental illness.
Approved course for the Neuroscience major/minor.
Prerequisite: This course requires a strong background in neuroscience; at minimum, successful completion of PSYC 6.
In 24W at 11, Kyle Smith
This course will explore how the brain controls our motivation to pursue goals and how drugs of abuse hijack those systems. We will learn about some historical perspectives of motivation as well as modern neuroscience work showing how areas of the brain might contribute to motivations. In the process, we will explore in detail how narcotic drugs (opioids, stimulants, alcohol, cannabis) act in the brain and the mechanisms underlying the transition from drug use to addiction.
Approved course for the Neuroscience major/minor.
Prerequisite: PSYC 6
In 24W at 3A, Glen Greenough
Sleep is a bodily function that is preserved among all animal species. Sleep is essential for life and optimal functioning. This course will examine the neuroanatomical and neurophysiologic underpinnings of sleep. Normal and disordered sleep will be discussed. The pathologic processes that disrupt normal sleep and lead to disordered sleep in human beings will also be examined. The consequences of disordered sleep, inadequate sleep or poor-quality sleep on individuals and society as a whole will be discussed.
Approved course for the Neuroscience major/minor.
Prerequisite: PSYC 1 or PSYC 6
See below for topics. Enrollment limited to 35 students.
Dist: SOC (unless otherwise listed in course description)
In 23F at 10, James Haxby
This course will focus on face perception, person perception and the mental processes we use to make sense of other people, including their thoughts, attitudes, personal traits, social connections, and personal history. The course will examine the role that person perception plays in face and voice recognition and social interactions. Particular relevance will be put on the neural systems for the representation of person knowledge and the mental states of others focusing also on what happens when these systems are impaired.
Faces play a fundamental role in facilitating social exchanges. Therefore, particular emphasis will be put on different aspects of face perception from face perception in different animal species to recognition of identity and decoding of different type of social cues in humans. A brief overview of person perception through other modalities such as voice perception and body posture also will be discussed.
Crosslisted as: COGS 11.04
Approved course for the Neuroscience major/minor.
Prerequisite: PSYC 1 or PSYC 6
In 24W at 10, Jeremy Manning
Knowing how our brains organize and spontaneously retrieve memories is at the heart of understanding the basis of the ongoing internal dialog of our conscious thoughts. Put simply, our memories make us who we are. The field of human memory also has a practical side. For example, how much should we trust eyewitness testimony? Or, should you cram for tomorrow's exam or get a good night's sleep instead? We will examine a range of classic and cutting-edge experimental results and theories that form the foundation of our current understanding of how we learn and remember.
Approved course for the Neuroscience major/minor.
Prerequisite: PSYC 1 or PSYC 6.
See below for topics. Enrollment limited to 35 students.
Dist: SOC (unless otherwise stated in the course description)
In 23F at 3B, James Sargent
Chronic health conditions (like cancer and heart disease) kill the majority of people worldwide. Those diseases result, in part, from use of products—e.g., tobacco, alcohol, & convenience food—that are produced and marketed worldwide by multinational corporations. This course centers around how corporations influence unhealthy product consumption during childhood and adolescence. This course describes the theoretical basis for these influences, the science used to establish corporate products as a cause of youth behavior, and how governments try to limit the influence through regulation. The study will cover tobacco, alcohol, drug use, homicide/suicide, food/obesity, and risky sex. (Note: this course was previously offered as PSYC 53.03.)
Prerequisite: PSYC 1
In 24W at 10A, David Kraemer
How do we learn, understand, and teach science, technology, engineering, and math (the STEM disciplines)? In this class, we will explore the nature and development of the scientific mind; how we formulate theories, design experiments, and understand scientific, technological, and mathematical concepts; and how we learn and teach related skills in the classroom, addressing the debate about the effectiveness of direct instruction and hands-on approaches. Open to all classes.
Crosslisted as: EDUC 46 and COGS 32
See below for topics. Enrollment limited to 35 students.
Dist: SOC (unless otherwise listed in course description)
In 24S at 12, Bradley Duchaine
In a fleeting glance, we can identify a person, infer their emotional state, determine their gender, estimate their age, assess their attractiveness, and surmise the focus of their thoughts. Social perception is fundamental to social interaction in humans as well as other animals. This course will examine social perception in humans and other species and in doing so will touch on issues including functional specialization, neurocognitive development, and evolution. Faces have received much of the attention in social perception and we'll spend significant time on face perception, but we'll also cover body perception, biological motion perception, voice perception, and some of the various types of social perception in non-human animals. We will draw on a range of approaches including psychophysics, neuropsychology, single-cell recording, transcranial magnetic stimulation, fMRI, and twin studies.
This course is not recommended for students who have completed PSYC 51.02.
Prerequisite: PSYC 1 or PSYC 6
In 23F at 11, Luke Chang
Why do we tip restaurant servers, cab drivers, and coffee baristas? Why does our grocery shopping behavior change when we are hungry? This course will explore the social and affective motivations that influence how we make everyday decisions from the diverse perspectives of psychology, economics, and neurobiology. This course will provide an introduction to how social psychological constructs and feelings can be modeled using tools from decision theory (e.g., value & uncertainty) and how these processes might be instantiated in the brain. Topics to be covered include other-regarding preferences (e.g., trust, reciprocity, fairness, and altruism), affective motivations (e.g., risk, dread, regret, and guilt), and social considerations (e.g., reputation, conformity, and social-comparison).
Prerequisite: PSYC 23, PSYC 28, or PSYC 38 (Previously offered as PSYC 27)
In 24S at 9L, Melissa Herman
Much of your life is spent in groups: families, classes, teams, cliques, Greek organizations, work teams. Have you ever wondered what's going on under the surface or how you can make your groups function better? Although these groups may be dissimilar in size, format, and function, the psychological processes involved are surprisingly consistent. This course will analyze psychological theories of group interaction including conformity, competition, conflict, leadership, negotiation, communication, power dynamics, status orders, initiation rites, ostracism, expectation states, and stereotypes. Readings will include classics such as Zimbardo's Stanford Prison experiment, Tajfel's minimalist groups paradigm, Sherif's Robber's Cave experiment, Whyte's Street Corner Society, and Pennington's Social Psychology of Behavior in Small Groups. Assignments will involve several reading analyses, a final exam, and—of course—a group project.
Prerequisite: PSYC 1.
In 23X at 12, Arjen Stolk
This course will provide students with a thorough background in the emergent field of social cognitive neuroscience. A broad range of social phenomena will be examined at multiple levels. First, at the social level including experience and behaviors. Second, at the cognitive level which deals with information processing systems. And lastly, at the neural level which deals with brain/neuronal bases of the first two levels. Topics include joint action, animal and human communication, and altered social functioning in psychiatric and neurological disorders. These topics will be discussed at both general and specific (article) levels.
Approved course for the Neuroscience major/minor.
Prerequisite: PSYC 1 or PSYC 6
In 24S at 3A, Laurie Veillette
This course will provide an overview of the field of Positive Psychology. Students will be provided with opportunities to learn theory and research pertaining to the psychology of human strengths, assets, abilities, and resilience. Recent empirical research will be reviewed, and students will be asked to apply the information in written assignments and class discussion. Topics will include: subjective well-being and positive emotions; optimal performance; personal fulfillment; optimal medical health; resilience; emotional intelligence; creativity; optimism; hope; self-efficacy; goals and life commitments; wisdom; humility/ compassion/ altruism; forgiveness; gratitude; love; moral motivation and the virtues (strengths of character); intrinsic motivation and flow; social support; positive coping; spirituality, meaning and purpose in life; the civic virtues (altruism, volunteerism, "prosocial" behavior).
Prerequisite: PSYC 1 or PSYC 6
See below for topics. Enrollment limited to 35 students.
Dist: SOC (unless otherwise listed in course description)
In 24W at 3B, Mark Detzer
This course will explore the relationship between psychology and health. We will study clinical psychology research and treatment contributions to 1) health promotion; 2) chronic physical illness; and 3) interaction with the US healthcare system. This course utilizes a multi-modal learning approach and will include lectures, readings, small and large group class discussions, videos, guest speakers, and self-reflection of each student's own health behavior. Through in-depth study of topics such as lifestyle and health, stress, cancer and palliative care, chronic physical pain, and insomnia, we will explore illness and the individual/family, adherence/self-management, and medical treatment issues including doctor/patient/medical system aspects of care.
Prerequisite: PSYC 1 or PSYC 6
In 24S at 10A, William Hudenko
Each year, millions of people vow to make a change. Some may wish to end their habit of procrastination, others to improve a significant relationship, or still others may commit to combat a mental illness. Whatever their goal, people often discover how challenging personal change can be. At its core, clinical psychology facilitates such change through the scientific application of psychological principles. The purpose of this course is to introduce you to various scientifically-validated modalities of individual psychotherapy, with an emphasis on how psychotherapies utilize psychological principles to produce change. Over the course of the semester we also will explore special topics in the field of clinical psychology such as: human connection, empathy, emotion, ethics, psychological assessment, pharmacological treatments, and treatment evaluation.
Prerequisite: PSYC 24
In 23X at 6A, Anne Corbin
This course introduces students to the various ways psychology relates to the law and its systems and processes. The course focuses on the role of the forensic psychologist in the criminal justice system and other workplaces. It also focuses on the tools and responsibilities of a forensic psychologist.
Prerequisite: One of the following: PSYC 1, PSYC 6, COGS 1, SOCY 1, or SOCY 2.
Dist: SOC.
In 24W at 11, Kimberly Rose Clark
How do measures of the brain and body map onto a brand marketer's return on a research investment? This course focuses on the history and topics related to the nascent, yet burgeoning, cross-disciplinary field of consumer neuroscience and new technological advances in marketing related to neuromarketing. The course will provide a unique vantage on the multiple academic and applied histories of the field, its ethical ramifications, along with general perspectives focusing on current practices and potential future directions, including the implications of predicting mass consumer behavior from small test samples. Students will have the opportunity to engage with some of the most notable academic and practitioners in the field and will participate in a capstone project of original research applying theory and utilizing psycho physiological tools applied in real-world neuromarketing research.
Approved course for the Neuroscience major/minor.
Prerequisite: PSYC 1 and one of PSYC 21, PSYC 28, or PSYC 38 (Previously offered as PSYC 27); or PSYC 6.
In 23F at 2A, John Jordan
What makes a great leader? Why would others follow you? A century of psychological research clarifies the traits, skills and behaviors of effective leaders, including how they attract, influence, develop and empower followers to excel in different situations. Readings will explain the psychological science; classroom demonstrations, guest leader interviews, case study discussions and small group challenges will illuminate it. Outside the classroom, weekly leadership practice assignments will reinforce core concepts, increase self-awareness, and develop leadership capabilities, all in support of a community impact initiative that each student will select, plan and lead (courage required). Your instructor will apply three decades of experience in developing thousands of leaders at all levels on multiple continents, to guide and challenge you to develop your science-based leadership potential.
Prerequisite: PSYC 1 or permission of instructor